Mass testing to reduce 14-day quarantine for Covid
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Posted On: 11/21/2020 1:31:18 PM
Mass testing to reduce 14-day quarantine for Covid contacts under Liverpool trial scheme
The next stage of mass testing in Liverpool will see emergency service workers given daily tests with new pregnancy-style kits, and is due to begin next week
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By Charlie Duffield
November 21, 2020 12:08 pm
FILE PHOTO: Soldiers work at The Exhibition Centre, which has been set up as a testing centre as part of the mass coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing, in Liverpool, Britain, November 6, 2020. Peter Byrne/PA Wire/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Soldiers work at The Exhibition Centre, which has been set up as a testing centre as part of the mass coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing, in Liverpool, Britain (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/Pool via REUTERS)
Quarantine for contacts of Covid-19 cases will be halved, or even eliminated completely, in a pilot scheme intended to free hundreds of thousands of people from isolation.
The next stage of mass testing in Liverpool will see emergency service workers given daily tests with new pregnancy-style kits, and is due to begin next week.
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Participants will be allowed to carry on working if they test negative, and everyone told to isolate due to contact with an infected person could be offered a test following seven days of quarantine, so they can leave home more quickly.
Ministers are monitoring the scheme intently, and think regular tests using new lateral flow technology – which offer results within minutes without needing a lab – could get rid of the need for the quarantine of contacts completely.
An end to a fortnight at home in isolation
Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks via video link from 10 Downing Street during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London. Mr Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with an MP who has since tested positive for coronavirus. PA Photo. Picture date: Wednesday November 18, 2020. See PA story POLITICS PMQs. Photo credit should read: House of Commons/PA Wire
Mr Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with an MP who has since tested positive for coronavirus (Photo: House of Commons/PA)
Currently, approximately one in 70 people tests positive having been told to isolate for 14 days, as they have been in close contact with an infected person – with Prime Minister Boris Johnson currently isolating after meeting an MP who tested positive.
Eliminating quarantine by testing would spare people in his situation two weeks at home.
However, Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, would need to approve the scheme before it could be rolled out nationwide; currently no date has been set, although early next year is most likely.
Test and release plans
"By taking part in this pilot local residents are playing a crucial role in helping to protect themselves and others."@FurberA reflects upon the #MassTesting pilot in Liverpool.
Read: https://t.co/e1vGDmI8j4#LetsGetTested pic.twitter.com/HMoh5gyRTw
— Liverpool City Council | #LetsGetTested (@lpoolcouncil) November 20, 2020
Liverpool is the nation’s testing ground for technology, with Mr Johnson hoping the mass testing, combined with a vaccine, will allow a return to normal life.
It’s hoped people in Liverpool will be allowed to visit care homes and prisons if they test negative, with plans for tests to allow bigger weddings and funerals.
Additionally, the city’s mayor said he wanted to get spectators back to Anfield football stadium in the same way next year.
In the first stage of the mass testing project, a quarter of the city’s population has been tested, locating nearly 2,000 cases of coronavirus that would have otherwise gone undetected and breaking chains of transmission in hard-to-reach areas.
However, some have been put off getting tested due to concerns that a positive result will force them and their families to isolate for two weeks.
Matt Ashton, the city’s director of public health, said he wanted to “shift from people getting a negative outcome as a result of a positive test, to getting a positive outcome as a result of a negative test”.
Professor Calum Semple of the University of Liverpool, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies who is advising on the scheme, said the test and release plans would be “a way of un-crippling society and parts of the economy that are important at this critical juncture”.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, he said: “For the the first time testing will no longer just be seen as a punitive action where you’re forced into isolation.
“We are going to be using testing to enable visiting to care homes and starting on Tuesday we will be piloting this in 12 care homes so that we can make visiting loved elderly relatives much safer.”
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The next stage of mass testing in Liverpool will see emergency service workers given daily tests with new pregnancy-style kits, and is due to begin next week
author avatar image
By Charlie Duffield
November 21, 2020 12:08 pm
FILE PHOTO: Soldiers work at The Exhibition Centre, which has been set up as a testing centre as part of the mass coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing, in Liverpool, Britain, November 6, 2020. Peter Byrne/PA Wire/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Soldiers work at The Exhibition Centre, which has been set up as a testing centre as part of the mass coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing, in Liverpool, Britain (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/Pool via REUTERS)
Quarantine for contacts of Covid-19 cases will be halved, or even eliminated completely, in a pilot scheme intended to free hundreds of thousands of people from isolation.
The next stage of mass testing in Liverpool will see emergency service workers given daily tests with new pregnancy-style kits, and is due to begin next week.
The i newsletter latest news and analysis
ENTER YOUR EMAIL
Participants will be allowed to carry on working if they test negative, and everyone told to isolate due to contact with an infected person could be offered a test following seven days of quarantine, so they can leave home more quickly.
Ministers are monitoring the scheme intently, and think regular tests using new lateral flow technology – which offer results within minutes without needing a lab – could get rid of the need for the quarantine of contacts completely.
An end to a fortnight at home in isolation
Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks via video link from 10 Downing Street during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London. Mr Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with an MP who has since tested positive for coronavirus. PA Photo. Picture date: Wednesday November 18, 2020. See PA story POLITICS PMQs. Photo credit should read: House of Commons/PA Wire
Mr Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with an MP who has since tested positive for coronavirus (Photo: House of Commons/PA)
Currently, approximately one in 70 people tests positive having been told to isolate for 14 days, as they have been in close contact with an infected person – with Prime Minister Boris Johnson currently isolating after meeting an MP who tested positive.
Eliminating quarantine by testing would spare people in his situation two weeks at home.
However, Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, would need to approve the scheme before it could be rolled out nationwide; currently no date has been set, although early next year is most likely.
Test and release plans
"By taking part in this pilot local residents are playing a crucial role in helping to protect themselves and others."@FurberA reflects upon the #MassTesting pilot in Liverpool.
Read: https://t.co/e1vGDmI8j4#LetsGetTested pic.twitter.com/HMoh5gyRTw
— Liverpool City Council | #LetsGetTested (@lpoolcouncil) November 20, 2020
Liverpool is the nation’s testing ground for technology, with Mr Johnson hoping the mass testing, combined with a vaccine, will allow a return to normal life.
It’s hoped people in Liverpool will be allowed to visit care homes and prisons if they test negative, with plans for tests to allow bigger weddings and funerals.
Additionally, the city’s mayor said he wanted to get spectators back to Anfield football stadium in the same way next year.
In the first stage of the mass testing project, a quarter of the city’s population has been tested, locating nearly 2,000 cases of coronavirus that would have otherwise gone undetected and breaking chains of transmission in hard-to-reach areas.
However, some have been put off getting tested due to concerns that a positive result will force them and their families to isolate for two weeks.
Matt Ashton, the city’s director of public health, said he wanted to “shift from people getting a negative outcome as a result of a positive test, to getting a positive outcome as a result of a negative test”.
Professor Calum Semple of the University of Liverpool, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies who is advising on the scheme, said the test and release plans would be “a way of un-crippling society and parts of the economy that are important at this critical juncture”.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, he said: “For the the first time testing will no longer just be seen as a punitive action where you’re forced into isolation.
“We are going to be using testing to enable visiting to care homes and starting on Tuesday we will be piloting this in 12 care homes so that we can make visiting loved elderly relatives much safer.”
Coronavirus
Covid-19
Testing
Essentials
News
Sport
Lifestyle
Culture
Opinion
ibuys
Useful links
Contact Us
About
Advertise
Subscribe to i
i competitions
i newsletters
i app
Sitemap
Follow us on
All rights reserved. © 2020 Associated Newspapers Limited.
Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy
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